The Adventures of Glorfindel and Erestor
by mistybutterfly
Summary: Glorfindel and Erestor go on an adventure. Can they survive it? The real question is: can they survive each other?
1. The Portrait

The Adventures of Glorfindel and Erestor (1?)

Chapter One: The Portrait

Glorfindel stood in front of the tree, one foot resting upon a rock. He had his sword drawn and extended as if battling an unseen creature. "How long is this going to take you?" he asked for the fourth time.

"I am almost finished," Erestor replied. "Quit whining. Everytime you whine, you move."

"I didn't slay the balrog by standing still like a statue, you know." Glorfindel glared, clearly running out of patience.

Erestor sighed, "No, you whined it to death." He dipped his paintbrush into some green paint, applied a few more strokes, then smiled. "Done."

"Finally!" Glorfindel collapsed to the ground. "Imagine. All of Imladris will be able to see the image of the heroic Glorfindel defeating a mighty balrog."

"Of course," said Erestor, with a smirk on his face. "They will be in awe. Elrond is particularly anxious to see it. Would you mind bringing it in to the library when you are finished?" As Glorfindel started to nod his head in agreement, Elrond's cat jumped out of the tree, nearly landing on his head.

"Why Elrond keeps that cat is beyond me," mumbled Glorfindel as he started getting up.

Gathering up the painting supplies, Erestor quickly headed back to the library. He found Elrond there, looking through books. "Lord Elrond, I am finished with the painting."

"Wonderful. I am most anxious to see it. How did you get him to remain still? He's always bouncing about," asked Elrond.

Erestor reached into a pocket and pulled out a few small bits of meat for Elrond's cat Mithren, who had jumped up on his desk. "Yes, Mithren is bouncy, but was quite willing to pose on a tree branch for his portrait after I promised him treats," he said. Mithren purred so loudly in appreciation that Elrond failed to hear the sounds of an angry balrog slayer screaming Erestor's name in the garden.

* * *

"Erestor!" Glorfindel bellowed, as he angrily stomped down the garden path, carrying the painting of Mithren. All within hearing distance, which was pretty much everyone, considering how loud he was yelling, rolled their eyes as if to say _here we go again._ It was a common occurrence to hear Glorfindel and Erestor in varying degrees of yelling and laughing at each other. Usually more yelling.

After Elrond left the library, Erestor sat down and started contemplating. Should he stay and face Glorfindel's wrath? Should he hide for the remainder of the day? The first option promised to be more entertaining, he thought. He shooed Mithren out the window then settled in to wait. He didn't have to wait long.

The door burst open and Glorfindel walked in, with a glare. "You realize what this means, don't you?"

"That Elrond will probably ask me to paint his doves next?" replied Erestor, with a serious look on his face. Well, almost serious. The corners of his mouth were trembling a bit, threatening to turn upward.

Glorfindel leaned in close, and whispered, "It means, that--" They both jumped at the sound of the knock on the door. "Come in," he said, and settled into a comfortable chair. It was a messenger, with his arms full of scrolls and packages.

"Good afternoon," he said with a smile. " I have just come from Mirkwood. I do wish they would do something about those spiders. Where do you want these?"

Erestor leaned forward and cleared off one end of the desk. "You may put them here. Is there anything I need to respond to right away?

The messenger looked through the pile and selected one small scroll. "Just this one from King Thrandruil." He handed it to Erestor, who broke the seal and read the contents.

"Ahh, this will work out nicely." He picked up his quill, dipped it into the ink pot and scrawled a few lines then signed it. After sealing it back up with fresh wax and the imprint of the Elrond's seal, he handed it back to the messenger. "Thank you." After the messenger left, Erestor started going through the scrolls.

"Anything interesting?"

"What? Is there supposed to be? Mostly just the usual." Erestor picked up a scroll case, twisted off one end and dumped out two scrolls. "Hmmm," he said, after looking at one of them. "Some kind of map." He studied it for a bit then handed it to Glorfindel. Picking up the other scroll that had accompanied it, he unrolled it and started reading. Or at least he _tried_ to read it. "This doesn't make any sense."

Glorfindel looked up from the map. "What doesn't make any sense?" Grabbing the scroll from Erestor's hand, and inspected it carefully. "You're right, it doesn't make any sense. And it feels like it is...humming."

"It's what?"

Glorfindel put his hand up to his neck and hummed. "The way that feels when you hum." He handed Erestor the scroll. "Get rid of it, something isn't right about it," he said, as he walked out and down the hall. After he was sure he was out of earshot, Glorfindel ducked into an alcove and burst into laughter. "Oh, this is going to be so good."

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter-- mistybutterfly 


	2. The Bait

Chapter Two: The Bait 

Later that evening, Glorfindel made his way to Erestor's rooms, carrying a tray of food and wine. "You didn't come to the evening meal," he said with a frown, as he placed the tray on a small table by the window. "Are you still looking at that thing?"

"Yes," replied Erestor, holding up the unusual scroll that had contained a strange message. "I finally figured it out." He picked up a blue stone about half the size of his fist and held it behind the scroll. He softly spoke a few words and the stone emitted a pale blue light, shining through the scroll. Where before there were missing words dotted throughout the lines, the light caused them to appear. "At least now we can read it, though I still don't know what it actually means."

"Hmmmm," said Glorfindel thoughtfully. "We seem to have a mystery on our hands. Perhaps Elrond can figure it out. Who sent this anyway?"

"I don't know. There wasn't an identifiable seal on it nor a letter of explanation. I still don't know what is causing the vibration. I am not getting any bad feelings from it." Erestor closed the scroll, placed it in the case with the map and put it on a shelf. "Is that bottle from Mirkwood?" he said, looking at the tray.

"Mirkwood's finest," Glorfindel said with a grin. "Don't ask, I'm not telling."

"Did you sneak into Elrond's wine cellar again? You do remember what happened the last time you got caught."

"I didn't get caught." Glorfindel shot him a look of annoyance. "You told on me."

"I merely gave him a bottle to sample, from the latest shipment," he said with feigned innocence. "How was I supposed to know that he would put it away for later? " He took the glass offered to him and begin to eat. Noticing a familiar look on Glorfindel's face, Erestor asked, "What are you up to?"

"Me?" he said, "Why would I be up to something?"

"You are always up to something."

The next morning after breakfast, they took the letter and map to Elrond, who studied them for nearly an hour. Glorfindel sat in a chair, casually leafing through the pages of a book of love poetry while Erestor paced back and forth across the room. Elrond looked up finally and looked at his counsellor in amusement. "If you keep doing that, you are going to wear a path into my floor."

"Well? What does it mean?" Erestor said, barely able to contain his excitement. "It's something important, isn't it?"

"This," said Elrond, holding up one of the scrolls, "is a map." He held up the other, saying "This one contains information for using the map," then turned his attention back to some letters he had to finish.

After several minutes of silence, Erestor got up, leaned over the desk and stared at Elrond. "What is it for?" Glorfindel snorted, then hid his face behind the book, as he struggled to contain his laughter. Glaring at him, Erestor turned back to Elrond and repeated his question. "What is it for?"

"Oh, sorry, it's a treasure map. The lines of this poem give clues on how to find it, and the map shows the way. Most of these things aren't even real. And of the ones that are, most have already been found. This one seems to be rather old, so I doubt it is worthwhile." Elrond sat back and stroked his chin, "Still," he said thoughtfully, " I suppose it is possible..." Leaving the thought hanging, he studied Erestor's face. "You aren't thinking of actually going after this, are you?"

"No, no, of course not," said Erestor while standing up and straightening his robe. "I don't have time to chase after silly things such as this." He gathered up the two scrolls, then left the room. Glorfindel couldn't control himself anymore and fell out of the chair laughing so hard, he was soon out of breath.

Elrond rolled his eyes and sighed. "Are you really going to go through with this one?"

"All the way," said Glorfindel, as he headed for the door. "Care to come along? After all, you are in on it too."

"No," said Elrond, "I simply have too much work to do." After Glorfindel left, Elrond sat with an amused expression on his face. _I think perhaps Glorfindel is going to find himself over his head in this one._

Erestor spent the next few days reading through books and scrolls. Glorfindel looked up from a patrol report he was reading and looked around at the resulting mess. "Erestor, how long is this going to continue? Whatever are you looking for?"

"I am doing some research, something your simple mind can't seem to grasp," he replied, one corner of his mouth twitching.

"At least my simple mind doesn't make such an enormous mess. Don't even think about asking me to clean this up." Glorfindel leaned down and moved the books that had accumulated in front of his feet. "It's too nice a day to be spending it in here. Let's go down to the lake with a basket of food and wine, and spend the afternoon relaxing. We could..."

"Perfect," exclaimed Erestor, jumping down from the small stool he was standing on. "We can discuss what I have discovered," he whispered in a secretive manner. He gathered the scrolls and a few books he has set aside. "Let's go."

Glorfindel fell into step behind him._ Discover. Yes, you will certainly discover a few things_, he thought as he followed him down the hall.


End file.
